Goodbye, Love
by brdwybnd09
Summary: Voldemort was dead. All were out celebrating, basking in a new sense of freedom that had been stifled for years. They all thought that it was over. But they were wrong. There was one last thing to be done.


**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Not even the idea...it was my wonderful brother's. Haha, thanks! Enjoy!**

The bloodiest war in the history of the wizarding world was almost finished. Voldemort was dead. Harry had defeated him just this morning, and was exhausted with the effort. But his friends had stuck by him. Dumbledore had been right. It was love that killed Voldemort. His friends had been willing to die for him, as they had shown when they formed a wall in front of him, shielding him from Voldemort. The Dark Lord had lost patience with them quickly, and mercilessly placed the Cruciatus Curse on Ron, while Hermione had knelt at his side, trying with all her might to help him. This distraction had given Harry the advantage. He had taken it, and performed _Avada Kedavra,_ stopping everyone in their tracks. They all watched in awe as the green light had shot out of Harry's wand, and hit Voldemort directly in the chest, taking his life…ending his reign of terror. All were out celebrating, basking in a new sense of freedom that had been stifled for years. They all thought that it was over. But they were wrong. There was one last thing to be done.

Last year, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had not come back to Hogwarts. They had gone searching for the remaining Horcruxes. Two of the six were already destroyed; Riddle's diary, and his ring. The next one they'd found when they had talked with Mundugus Fletcher. It was Salazar Slytherin's locket. They'd seen it just a few years back at 12 Grimmauld Place when cleaning it out. When Ginny had opened it, it had started to play a soft lullaby that had put them all the sleep. Luckily, she'd had the sense to close it before anything had happened. Mundugus, being the black-market business dealer that he was, found the locket when raiding Sirius' old house and thought that it might be worth some money. Luckily, they'd found him before he'd managed to sell it.

The next Horcrux they'd found was left at Voldemort's old childhood orphanage. The building had been abandoned years ago, but with Hermione's genius, they found Helga Hufflepuff's cup hidden in an old armoire. Ron, being over-protective of Harry (though he'd never admit it), had performed five different curse-breaking spells on the cup, each taking one of his senses. By the time the item was safe to touch, Ron could no longer smell, taste, hear, see, or feel anything. Luckily, it was all temporary. Within three weeks, all the senses were back, though he was still at little hard of hearing.

The next one they'd found was indeed Nagini, the snake. After tracing her to the legendary graveyard from Harry's fourth year, they had quite a time trying to kill her. She was different than the other Horcruxes in one major way: she was living. Therefore, she had her own mind, and could move of her own accord. Harry finally caught hold of the snake and held it still while Ron killed it, but not before a mis-aimed _Sectumsempra _curse hit Hermione. She was rushed to Hogwarts, the closest and most secure location, by a shaking Ron and a white Harry. They were informed that she would be okay, although she had lost an almost fatal amount of blood. She stayed in the care of Madam Pomfrey for six weeks, by which time the boys had already discovered and destroyed the last Horcrux.

Without Hermione, discovering and destroying the last Horcrux had seemed an impossible task. They had been in hiding for two weeks, Ron and Harry bouncing ideas off of one another. Finally, it was Ron who had stumbled (unknowingly, of course) upon the right course of thinking.

"What if Dumbledore was the last Horcrux?" he'd said. He paused for a moment, then laughed harshly. "No, it couldn't have been. That would've been way too easy on our part."

But Ron's comment had gotten Harry thinking. He had an idea, but he couldn't be sure yet. So, he just agreed with Ron.

"No, it couldn't have been Dumbledore." They sat for a few more moments, until Ron spoke again.

"Hey, what was it that Dumbledore said? Like, about how Voldemort used symbols of power as his Horcruxes?"

"Yeah, that's pretty much the jist of it."

"Well, we found one of Slytherin's, one of Hufflepuff's, and we know that there can't be one of Gryffindor's, but what if it was something of Ravenclaw's?"

Harry thought on this for a moment. It was a perfectly conceivable idea. Not to mention that it was the only thing they had to go on at this moment. Well that and…but Harry wasn't quite comfortable sharing that yet. Finally, he spoke.

"Yeah. It was something of Ravenclaw's. Now we need to just figure out what."

After more brainstorming, Harry and Ron had finally figured out that Rowena Ravenclaw's greatest possession was a crown. They had located it in a secret passageway in Hogwarts, and when they had destroyed it, Ron had noticed its distinct lack of curses. That's when Harry's suspicions were confirmed, though he just told Ron that someone had probably already taken care of the curses, like the locket and R.A.B. Ron had shrugged it off, and they began working on a plan to destroy Voldemort.

He sighed in apprehension and sadness as he stared out the window of his room. After Madam Pomfrey had checked up on him this morning after the battle, he, Ron, Hermione had Flooed back to The Burrow. Upon hearing the news Mrs. Weasley broke out in sobs of joy, and proceded to contact everyone she knew to make sure they were alright. She had then ushered the trio upstairs to get some rest. That had been hours ago. Now, Ron and Hermione were outside with the rest of the Weasley family celebrating.

They still thought that Harry was sleeping, and they didn't want to disturb him. But he'd never even gone to sleep. He'd been thinking, pondering, but most of all, bracing himself for what he knew needed to be done. He looked at the clock. It was 6 o' clock. He'd been up here for almost ten hours. Someone was surly going to come and check on him in a few minutes. He sighed and took one last look out the window. His eyes caught on Ron and Hermione, and he smiled. They were talking to Bill and Charlie, Hermione on Ron's lap settled back into his chest. They were truly happy, and Harry was happy for them.

His eyes wandered until he found Ginny. She was beautiful. She was smiling joyously and Fred and George's antics, the sound of her laughter drifting up from the yard to Harry's ears. It was his favorite sound in the world. As he gazed at her, he reaffirmed the fact that he'd known for a long time: he loved her. He always had, and he always would.

His eyes began to well up with tears as he took one last look at the Weasleys. They were his family, and true families were willing to die for one another. They had been willing to die for him, and now he would return the favor. He turned away from the window and looked around the room. He was breathing hard, preparing himself. He took out his wand and pointed it.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

And the world went black.

* * *

"Ginny, dear, would you go up and check on Harry?" 

"Sure Mum," Ginny replied. "Be right back."

Ginny got up out of her chair, and walked into her house. It was dark inside, as none of them had thought to turn on the lights, and the sun was setting. As she walked upstairs she thought that she could hear someone crying. Nearing Harry's door, she could hear that it was him. Then next thing she heard stopped her heart.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA!"_ Then a sickening _thump_ as something hit the floor.

Before she'd even thought about it, she raced towards the door. She flung it open and screamed.

"Harry! No, no, don't be dead, please Harry, don't be dead!"

She fell to her knees next to his body, and looked at him. His eyes were open, but empty. She fumbled with his wrist to find his pulse, but felt none. She screamed again, this time through the sobs that were racking her body. She collapsed onto his chest.

"Please, please Harry. Please don't be dead. You can't be dead. I love you, you can't be dead!" She was pounding on his chest, hitting him with all of her might, clutching to his shirt and clawing at his arms trying to make him come back. She felt arms grab her and pull her back, but she struggled against them, trying to get back to him. She turned and realized that her entire family was standing in the doorway, save Bill, her captor. They were all standing stock-still, wide-eyed in shock as they stared at the body. Ginny gave another sob, and finally stopped fighting. Going limp, she just sank to the ground. Curled up in a ball. Rocking back and forth, back and forth. Trying to wake from this nightmare.

"It's not real, it can't be real. It's not real. He's not dead. He's not dead." She kept repeating that over and over again, trying to convince herself.

"Ginny, dear. You need to tell us what happened," Molly finally said.

"I don't know. I was walking up here and I heard crying and when I came closer to the door I heard that it was him and before I could open the door, I heard-I heard," she broke off, unable to go on.

"You heard what, sweetie?" her mum prompted, clearly afraid of her daughter's answer.

"I-heard…the k-ki-killing c-curse."

Molly broke down, and Ginny lost all hope. She crawled over to the body, and buried her face in his chest.

Somewhere above her, she heard her family talking, though she didn't care what about. She felt a small hand on her back, and Ginny looked up to see Hermione standing next to her, holding out a piece of paper.

"What's this?" She asked thickly.

"It's a note. From H-h-Harry. We-we just found it on hi…the desk. We think that you should read it."

She nodded mutely, and took the note. She saw his scrawl, and her lip trembled in painful recognition. It was just like him. Untidy, hardly legible, but when it was finally deciphered, the words were beautiful. She took a shaking breath and started.

_Dear Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, _

_I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I had to do it. You see, although Voldemort was killed just this morning, the war wasn't over yet. Only my death could finish it. _

_I lied to you when I said Dumbledore was the last Horcrux. It was me. When he came to Godric's Hollow years ago, he used the death of my mother to create a Horcrux in me. The spell used to create Horcruxes also creates green light when used. It was mistakenly assumed that I had survived the unsurvivable. I don't know why he chose me. The scar was a symbol of his soul inside me. The bond that let me to feel his emotions and be in his mind was the soul. I am sorry for everything. _

_Thanks to everyone for a great life. You all are my family. Not like family, you ARE family. You all have proved that you would die for me, so it was my time to return the honor. I love you all. _

_-Harry _

Ginny looked up, tears still falling. "That's it. That's the end." She looked around the room, and saw that everyone was crying.

Finally, Ginny couldn't stand it anymore. She stood up, and walked silently out of the room. She walked into her room, still carrying Harry's letter. She moved to sit down on her bed to read it again. As she did, she heard the crumple of parchment beneath her. She quickly stood up again, and looked to see what she sat on. She gasped as she realized it was a note from Harry.

_Dear Ginny, _

_I hope that you have already read my other letter, and I hope that you understand why I had to do it. I just want you to know that I'm sorry for hurting you in sixth year. It killed me to end what we had, but I had to do it, to protect you. I love you. I always have, and always will. I'm okay, I promise. I'll wait for you. Goodbye, love. _

_-Harry_

Ginny re-read the letter, hardly daring to believe it. She bent down and kissed the parchment, and whispered two last words: "Goodbye, love."

**A/N: So, that's version one of this story. I'm working on it with an editor I know, and she's absolutely amazing. So, sometime soon I will be posting another revised and hopefully better version of this. PLEASE review! It's my first fan fic, so, I need to know whether or not it sucks. If it does, please tell me so, but tell me why, too. It's the only way I'll get better at writing. So, I hope you guys enjoyed it, and if you did, then please look soon for more updates. Haha. Byes**

**Brdwybnd09**


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